Dube Lifts Bears to 2-1 Victory Over Wild

Pierrick Dube broke a 1-1 tie late in regulation to lift the Hershey Bears (14-4-0-0) past the Iowa Wild (6-8-1-1) for a 2-1 win in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, in front of a crowd of 9,208 on Saturday night at GIANT Center. Hershey reached the quarter-pole mark of the 2023-24 campaign atop the American Hockey League standings, and has now won its last five games.

The game marked Hershey’s first regular-season contest against a current member of the Western Conference since Feb. 23, 2019, a 3-2 shootout win against Rockford. Hershey’s victory gave the club its best 18-game start since the 2006-07 season (13-2-1-2, 29 points), and matched the 1957-58 Bears squad (14-2-2, 30 points) for the most wins in club history through the first 18 games of a season.

BOX SCORE

Both teams played through a scoreless first period, the first time since Nov. 1 vs. Lehigh Valley that both the Bears and their opponent had failed to score in the opening stanza. Bears goaltender Hunter Shepard (making his 100th professional appearance) turned aside all seven shots he faced, while his counterpart, Jesper Wallstedt, stopped six Hershey shots on goal.

Alex Limoges finally broke through late in the second period when his wrist shot beat a screened Wallstedt for his fourth of the season at 16:58, with Chase Priskie and Joe Snively earning assists.

Gavin Hain tied the contest for Iowa with his first pro goal at 19:49 when he gathered Jake Lucchini’s blocked shot in the slot and beat Shepard with a snap shot to the glove side.

The score remained 1-1 throughout much of the third period until the final four minutes of regulation, when Dube broke the deadlock by redirecting Logan Day’s shot from the right point at 16:36; Priskie earned a secondary assist on the goal for his second helper of the night.

Shots finished 27-26 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 25-for-26 to secure his eighth victory of the season; Wallstedt went 25-for-27 in the defeat for Iowa. Hershey did not receive an opportunity with the man advantage; the Wild went 0-for-1 on the power play.

With Bears match report